Ask HN: Will I Ever Recover?

Whether you work at Intel for 40 years or hop between jobs and your own projects, the story is the same:

- Find something that works

- Grow it larger until it fails

- Find something (smaller) that works

- ...

i.e.,

- If you want to feel more productive, take smaller steps

- If you need to go faster, take larger steps

The absolutely key issue is taking ownership of how your activities affect you

- If you read bits of news all day, you'll addict yourself to short bursts of new information

- If you relish people's attention, you'll depend on their whims

- If you meditate all day, you'll find the deepest peace, but do nothing

Right now, you have a long process of mourning all that you'd hoped for. It's best to do so deeply - to get it done. So:

- Write down all your faults and failings and how royally you screwed yourself

- Write each once. No need to elaborate

- When you can think of no more, you're done with that.

Now you have X time in the bank. How do you want to spend it?

Remember: if you read news or seek customers or write books, you will become the reflection of that activity: hyper-intellectual, a pleaser, a ruminator...

So, to make something of yourself, do what will make you what you want to be.

Above all, DON'T act out of misery to just make yourself feel better. DON'T try to "build yourself back up". i.e., Don't let your past define you.

That's the essence of freedom

You need to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, figure out all the lessons learned from your first foray, write them down, formulate a new life strategy, and then get the fuck out and chase it!

Whingeing on HN about how miserable you are won't fix anything.